Roof Strength? 300CD
 

Howdy!:cowboy:

I have just had a 300CD come up for sale near me, and was wondering about the safety of the roof integrity in a coupe, (Being a "hardtop") compared to a sedan, I know it is about 2" less height, but did they beef up the car more?

I'm gonna go and see if my 6'1" will fit in OK too!

I would assume they allowed for the pillarless design as far as roof strength goes. Im not sure what your specific worry would be. I am 6'1" too, no issues there

i am also 6'1 and i sit more comfortably in my coupe than i do in my sedan...as for roof strength :confused: no idea never seen one flip..

My dad was 6'-4". He had no problems with headroom- if he had he'd have never bought the car.

As far as strength goes....MB will be your best bet for safety. In their testing they drop the car on its roof and it has to hold up....so no worries there!

I'm about 6-2 and the only problem I have when driving my coupe sometimes is seeing traffic signals.

Nothing beats the seating/visibility in a new Saab convertible, I am only 6' and with the seat all the way down and adjusted right, this was my forward view sitting in one:

Also, I noticed that if I closed the roof, I'd have to give up the top 2" of my head for that to happen. :eek:

http://www.tglmarketinginc.com/mbfor...0207091316.jpg

And looking to the left at eye level:

http://www.tglmarketinginc.com/mbfor...207091316a.jpg

Does not always depend on how tall one is. My W210, nor the W126 I drove to 305K really had the legroom I'd like to have, but the W211 has more legroom than I need, as does the W123.

Depends on where the body's height is......my legs are 36" inseam, and there's precious few MBs that facilitate that portion of my height. My torso has enough height-room in any MB.

Some have a VanGogh body - long torso short legs - which to me is odd looking on a tall guy, but would put the seat bottom to roof distance in question on a tall guy. One of my nephews is shaped this way - 6'2" tall, with shortish legs. He's still growing -he's a teenager.

One particular car's interior dimensions do not fit all tall people over 6'0" comfortably.

OK, Thanks!

I've got a 34" inseam . . . I figured it would fit.

I guess I should not be concerned with safety when it comes to a MB, nor do I plan on rolling it over!

There's a 300CD at my friend's yard with two cars stacked on top of it, and its maintaining its structure perfectly after many months.

Its a strange car... some kind of spoiler on the trunk.

It really depends on where the strength is required.

The roof being lower on this model means the pillars are shorter.

If made from the same gauge metal and using the same construction methods as the sedan they would be more rigid.

They may be more angled though and this would reduce their strength compared to a more vertical pillar struck/compressed at the same angle.

There is also the issue of no central pillar as compared to the sedan which would make the centre of the roof less more vulnerable.

My advice to you is this - MB have been doing this for a long time and would have thought of these and many other variables when designing their cars.

I do believe I have seen an advertisement some years back that showed a large bodied Benx suspended from its door lock!

The fact that they make coupes with no solid roof structure and still handle well is an indication of their structural prowess.

I would say you could sleep well at night with either purchase - MB have it sorted.

What else is strange about it?

A 'spoiler' on a diesel, isn't strange enough?! I doubt it's an AMG.

No, its a 300CD Turbo with an aftermarket spoiler that seems made to mold to the trunk. Red car, beat to death by a neglectful owner. Over 300k IIRC.

I just compared the European 280E and 280CE wheel base lengths and ready to drive vehicle weights from brochures I have from the 1980's. The wheel base is about 3 and change inches shorter (taken from the space behind the front seats and forward of the rear axle) and the weights of the vehicles are within 30 lbs. A three inch slice across the vehicle at that point, which includes the B pillars, and replacing the rear doors with a longer quarter panel is, in most cars, likely to translate into closer to three to five times the 30 lbs. difference. This suggests the passenger cell has been stiffened to account for its change in structure.

In those days the cost of steel and its affect on fuel economy were less sensitive issues. Luxury back then was not only measured in glitzy features - long term reliability was still considered a luxury feature, right up there with no rattles and squeaks for decades of rough service. So, I very much doubt there is a measurable rollover performance difference between the coupe and the sedan. When you bought an MB, especially the significantly more expensive one in those days, MB made an extra effort to ensure you came back to buy another.

Jim